Dandelions
by mrseddievedder
Summary: The Freaks and Harris are in the big city a.k.a. NYC! What trouble will they all get into? Romance, adventure, and plenty of rock n roll! Changing POV. R&R! Nick/Lindsay mostly, with Daniel/Kim,Ken/Amy,geeks appear later.
1. Kim

**I hope you don't think I'm stupid because the narrative is like that. I'm just trying to read like Kim. Later chapters will include points of view from Lindsay, Harris, Nick, and probably Daniel. I'll try to work a little geek-action in there too. Lots of music references in here, so keep up!**

Chapter 1- Kim

I've always been the "free spirit", the stupid "dumb blonde" who never looked before she leaped. Or is it lept? I don't know, like I said, I'm a dumb blonde. It's okay that I say that. I know I'm stupid. My mom says so, my stepdad say so, my brother would say so, but he hasn't spoken since 1975. He got hit in the head by with one of those big patrol ticks by a dumb cop, and now he's in trauma or something. But I don't really want to get into that. I wanna talk about my summer, the summer where I figured out my whole messed-up life.

So, my boyfriend Daniel, the most irritating man on the PLANET (yes, man. Daniel's eighteen. I guess you can say I'm jailbait.), is in this totally awesome band called Creation. They were the WORST band ever. I mean, I pretended to be mad at Lindsay for bring all uppity and crap when Nick told Sean, Daniel, and Ken that they basically were lazy and can't play their instruments, but she was right when she said the band sucked. Especially, the lead singer, Ken, wise ass #1. Ken quit the band because he had "better things to do", a.k.a. making kissy face at his girlfriend, the "Tuba Girl"; and our bassist, Sean, was fired because they tried to play "The Real Me" in public and he humiliated himself. Turns out, we found a new singer really quickly, named Courtney Ryan. She's so cool. Me and Lindsay got really close to her since she joined, since Lindsay's the manager, and I'm probably viewed as "the groupie." We got a new bassist too, some bizarro kid named Harris. He's a total geek, but he's freaking John Paul Jones on bass.

Anyway, Lindsay, which turned this band from a sucky Aerosmith –like-garage-band -poser group into Big Brother and the Holding Company or some other sick band with a female lead. They were SO good we decided to record a demo. I know, important, right? So, we recorded a cover of _Sunshine of Your Love_ for $3 an hour at a small little booth owned by one of Daniel's creepy cousins who I think flirted with me and Lindsay AND the Tuba girl. Anyone, Nick knew a guy who knew a guy who knew the manager of CBGB's. Long story short, we got in. In the summer of 1981, the summer of my junior year, I got to go to New York with my best friends and my boy friend. How sweet is that?

I knew I was going to have to go through hell and high water to **a)** let my mom know remember that I still lived there, and **b)** to make up some elaborate story about _why_ I was disappearing suddenly, for six weeks. I would have to play my cards right, or I wouldn't be able to leave the house until 1997, when I'm 33. Wait, I'll be 33, right? Whatever, I'll just ask Lindsay later. It's nice to have a smart friend to answer all your school questions.

I decided to bring it up while my mom was getting ready to go out. This is usually a good time, because she's happy that she's using her social life, and it's bad to use the end of night because she's totally wasted and guess who has to pick her up? "Mom, did you get your hair done today? It looks less like a helmet today." I had to compliment her, but add a slight insult so she wouldn't guess that I was brown-nosing her. My mother just grunted and started fussing with her make-up. She looked preoccupied, so she probably wouldn't be focusing 110% on me. I went in for the kill. "So, they have this program in Detroit for struggling students who want to go to college. It's for six weeks, and I think I wanna go. It's I n June. You think I can go?" I asked. I'm a seasoned liar, so I didn't think my tone of voice would be a problem. I just hoped she's buy my story.

My mom just looked at me and said, "This isn't one of tricks, missy? Cause if it is, I'll ground you 'till you're old and gray, I swear to god." She looked dead serious, as if she would actually ground me. Yeah, right. She doesn't care about me enough to actually keep tabs on where I'm going.

Anyway, I told her that I wasn't pulling any "shenanigans" (what is with that words? I have never heard anyone under the age of forty use it, along with "hooligans", and "whippersnappers" ) and she gave the green light. Yes! I was going to the craziest city on earth, to have the craziest summer of my life. I had no idea how awesome, amazing, dangerous, crazy, insane, sad, beautiful summer of my entire life,

**Review are appreciated! I'll give you a cookie! No, seriously, if you like, SAY SO! If you don't like, SAY SO! I love you all. As Nick would say, Shine on, you crazy diamond.**

**Peace, love, empathy, rock n roll, -mrseddievedder**


	2. Lindsay

**I''M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! Enjoy this newest installment in the story. **

Chapter 2- Lindsay

Get this; I'm an outsider amongst the outsiders.

I guess, no matter how much I love hanging with Kim and stuff, but there's always a part of me that wants to hanging out with Millie, playing Uno on her bed, learning Trigonometry, watching _Chico and the Man_. Every time I think these thoughts, I remember all my friends that I have made since the beginning last year: Kim, Daniel, Ken, and Nick. Nick. Oh, Nick. I think I really love Nick, and now it's too late. He's with Sarah, Disco Bitch of Chippewa.

My parents, needless to say, were not crazy about my new choice of friends. They had liked Millie since the day they had met her. And why wouldn't they? Millie was the perfetc child: intelligent, sweet, religious, and, let's face it, kind of bland. She's the exact opposite of my new friends: thrilling, funny, dumb as a post, people who don't care what anyone thinks of them.

Naturally, my parents wouldn't want me to go to New York City, unsupervised, with my "bad" friends. So, I was going to have to do something I hated doing; lying to my parents. Sure, I had done it before, like when I went to the Grateful Dead concert instead of the Academic summit in my sophomore year. I was going to really have to lie though, if I was going anywhere near the Empire State Building this June.

"So, Mom, I think I have to pay more attention to my school work," I said casually at dinner, which got my dad's attention.

"Of course you do," my dad said gruffly, "ever since you've been hanging out with those hippy-dippy junkie burnouts, I've been worried about you." Jeez. My dad so stuck in 1968. I doubt any of my friends will resort to taking LSD or burning the flag any time soon.

"Sooo, Millie told me about some sort of program for teens who want to get into a good college. It's in Detroit, and it starts on Sunday. Can I go?" I hoped my voice didn't show that that I was lying. I had become much better at it since I had been spending more time with Kim.

My heart soared as I saw my mom nod her head. "Sure, honey. I think it's great that you want to get into a good school." She said sweetly.

"Great!" I said, happy that they would let me go. "I'll pack tomorrow and I'll be ready to go by Sunday.

Sunday finally arrived, and my parents dropped me off at the bus stop. Little did they know that as soon as they dropped me off, I would walk to Daniel's house, get in a van, and drive to New York. My parents dropped me off, gave me hug and kisses, along with Sam's nerdy friends, Bill and Neal.

As I walked to Daniel's house, my ex-best friend, Millie saw me and walked up to me. Millie was a freak for a while, but she couldn't really go through with bring a "bad girl". She walked ip to me and said, "Lindsay, what are you doing? Where are you going?"

I rolled my eyes; Millie could be so naïve sometimes, almost like a child. "Millie, I'm going to New York City with my friends. Why do you need to know?"

Millie looked like she had been struck by lightning. "You can't go to New York with freaks! You'll do bad things! Like do drugs, and have sex!" I think right about then, Millie looked up at the sky, just against in case was about to throw a lightning bolt at me.

I just ignored her and went to go see my friends. Daniel had borrowed a huge van from his cousin Floyd. It had a enough room to seat up to THIRTEEN people, which is more than what we needed. The list of people coming was me, Ken, Nick, Daniel, Kim, Amy, Disco Bitch (ugghh), and Harris. What I was surprised to see what was my brother and his friends near the van, talking to Harris. **THAT** was weird.

I walked up to Sam and his geeky buddies. "Sam, what the heck are you doing here? I thought you were staying home with Mom and Dad!" I was fuming. What if Sam told my parents where I was actually doing? I wouldn't be able to see my friends ever again.

Neal, Sam's friend who I think liked me, waved me off. "Lindsay, relax. Harris invited us. We won't cause any trouble." He said, putting his arm around for romantic effect. Jeez.

I pulled Casanova Weinstein off my hip and ran over to go see Nick. As usual, he was there with Sarah on his hip. God, what did he see in that girl? Just as about to talk to Nick, Daniel said, "Load up the van, guys. We're headin' out!"

I jumped into the van, immediately landing a seat between Kim and Nick. It must have looked pretty desperate, because Kim gave me a snarky look that said _Could you be any more obvious? _Sara looked none too happy and gave me the hairy eye. Jerk-off.

All I can say about the trip? Pure bliss. It was almost as good as Grateful Dead trip I took last summer. We laughed and sang songs like "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Spirit of Radio" and "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" and "Heartbreaker" loud and off-key. My favorite moment was when Barry Gibb (a.k.a. Sara) asked to put in a disco record and Daniel told her off.

"No way, Sara. You can disco your little heart out when we get to New York, and you can go to Studio 58 or something. For now, this is disco-free zone." Nick pretended to look disappointed, but I saw him look relieved.

I couldn't help but smile.

I felt my eyelids grow heavy as we left Pennsylvania, so I rested my head on Nick's shoulder. It felt good, as if my head had been perfectly fit for his shoulder. I thought Sara would object, but as I lifted my head slightly, I saw her head resting on "Kenny's" shoulders, much to Ken's (and Amy's) chagrin.

When I woke up, my body and Nick's body had melded together perfectly, and I think he was sorta sleep-hugging me. Weird. Anyway, I woke up to the sound of Daniel yelling "We're here! We made it! We're in New York!"

The whole van screamed and whooped, except for Harris, who merely went, "That's quite nice." Wow. That kid was a little weird. I had no idea how awesome (and awesomely scary) this city would turn out to be.

**PLEASE REVIEW! REVIEWS= LOVE, LOVE= MORE CHAPTERS. THANKS FOR ALL WHO HAVE BOTHERED TO READ MY STORIES. **

**Peace, love, empathy, rock n roll,**

**-mrseddievedder**

**P.S. For those of you who don't know, "Won't Get Fooled Again" is by the Who, "Spirit of Radio" is by Rush, "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" is by the Ramones, "Heartbreaker is by Led Zeppelin, and it's really called Studio 54.**


	3. Nick

_**This is basically supposed to be an mental version of Nick's diary, so excuse all the random stoned drabble. Enjoy this mess of a brain we call Nicholas Andopolis.**_

Chapter 3-Nick

There are probably thousands, even millions maybe, of beautiful, wonderful, kindred spirits in this world-Neal Peart, my cool Uncle Johnny who always gives parts for my drum set for Christmas, the hairy front man guy from that hippy dippy pot band, Santa Clause. If that is true, how come the only person I see is Lindsay?

Wow, I just said something kinda profound. I'm gonna go write that down.

Anyway, I'm on the bus and I'm just waking up as we cross the GW Bridge and holy shitake mushroom me and Lindsay are practically hugging each and my girlfriend is hugging ken and Ken looks like he's about to die a slow slow slow death. That mother…he's not even supposed to _be_ here. He's the one who quit the band, thinking he was like Jimmy Page and we were falling apart like the freaking Yardbirds. It's not my fault he left to play 'no you hang up' games with Amy.

So we get off the bus-Courtney said she would just take a bus to New York and we'll meet her outside the club- and suddenly I see a plain looking girl with a horse face in old-lady outfit and a disappointed look on her face. Shizz. I thought I was done with her after the Who concert. Kim looked like Keith Richards at Altamont- guilt and disgust. Lindsay had a look like her absolute worth dream had come true, i.e. for me, the Who releasing another record like _It's Hard_, or seeing _The Wall _straight or joining the army, . Oh wait, that last one is _actually_ gonna happen. Oh, man.

Anyway, Courtney didn't know Millie, which is definitely better for both of them. Lindsay ran out of the car and bounced like a bunny…bunny…bouncing…haha. Sorry- note to self, don't smoke weed before 11 AM. Yeah that's right; I went back to weed. You would to if you had to listen to disco 24/7.

So… where were we? Oh yeah. Millie, eternal damnation for us, got it. So Lindsay had a very hushed conversation with Millie that went along the lines of 'what-the-hell-are-you-doing-her-you're-gonna-up-killed-by-a-punker-or-something.' Millie responded with a not-so hushed 'I have to save you from drinking or doing drugs' and some general stuff that people believe will happen to you if you hang out with me and Daniel and Kim. Unbelievable.

So now we're in New York outside this big hotel with five freaks, one freak's girlfriend, three geeks, one religious maniac, one disco chick, a whole lot of musical equipment, and $1000 stolen from four of the freaks combined college funds. (Guess which one didn't get any money taken from their accounts? Hint- the one who actually is going to college.) What could possibly go wrong? Answer- everything.

After we enter the hotel, some snooty looking guy at the checkout door says, "Sorry, you can't use our restroom unless you actually get a room. But by the look of that blonde lady and that quite dirty looking homeless man over there, you actually are." Daniel and Kim shifted uncomfortably against each other. Ouch, that was harsh.

Daniel responded by saying, "Listen, Mr. Snotball. We actually have a room, which we paid for with our own money. Now if you don't mind, just give us our room key and leave us the hell alone."

The obnoxious guy just sniffed and said, "For your information, my name is Mr. Wainwright." On that note, he huffed away.

We all went up to our rooms and unpacked what little clothes we had. The bunking arrangement went like this- Ken and Amy, Courtney and Lindsay, Daniel and Kim, and me and Sarah. The geeks claimed they had made other living arrangements. Oh boy. I hope to god we didn't have stereos in our room, or else I was gonna have Night Fever all night long.

When we go into our room, Sarah all over me, trying to kiss and hug me know that where alone. I really, REALLY didn't want to get all freaky and stuff tonight, so I just told her I was tired and she listened and hit the bed hard, almost immediately snoring, LOUDLY. God, this was going to be a long night.

_**One note- please review! **_


	4. The Parents

_**Hey y'all! A few quick things- first, the chapter isn't written in first person. It is written in third person; a reviewer pointed out to me that the parents in Chippewa must be worried sick. So it is kind of written in a freak's mind, like a freak angel was overseeing the meeting. Second, this might be a last chapter for a while because I might not have computer access. My family is moving from New Jersey to NYC (yes!) sp we have to pack up the computer and move. Sorry for the inconvenience to the very few people who actually follow this story. Okay, I'm done rambling now. Enjoy!**_

__Mrs. Weir nervously arranged cheese and crackers pitifully in a platter. It was a pathetic display, but, in her defense, she only had two hours to prepare. Two hours ago, Mrs. Kentner had so dutifully informed the Weirs that her daughter was missing, leaving a note that explained that Millie had to "save Lindsay from sin," explaining where Lindsay really was. She then went on to rant about what a terrible influence Lindsay and Sam were on Millie. It had struck Mrs. Weir as odd that such a pious and moral lady knew an incredibly creative and extensive vocabulary of swear words, and the fact that she could use them all in one conversation.

Mr. Weir had immediately been insanely furious, and decided to call around town and see who else's kids were missing, then invited them over so they could all have a nice conversation, which would probably result in yelling, weeping, and a story about someone he knew in high school who DIED!

First to arrive was Mr. Andopolis. He was in a somber mood-what else is new? - and was wearing his army jacket with medals, even though it was 98 outside. Maybe he was just on a power trip

Next, the Kentners came, in full Bible-thumper mode. They came baring crosses, rosaries, and icy glares at the Weirs, as if they told their children to run away to the city. Oh boy, Lindsay and Sam were in trouble when they got home. Not only did they worry some poor parents to death, they made the Weirs have to deal with Jim and Tammy Kentner.

After the ice storm that is the Kentners arrived, the hurricane-natural-disaster-of-the-worst-kind that is the Kellys. Mrs. Kelly blasted through like a rocket, screaming about how sorry she was and what a terrible, awful, no-good child they had, while MR. Kelly , who could really care less about Kim, and tried to get a job at Mr. Weir's store. This led to the Weirs to believe there was something not quite right about this family. 'No duh,' thought the rest of the world.

Next came the Millers, or rather, the Millers' maid Consuela. The Millers were out of town for the week, so when they got the message form their neighbors, sent Consuela over, who, by the way, didn't speak English. Of course she didn't.

Then entered Mr. Schweiber, in his smarmy way. He kept giving Mrs. Weir winks and disgusting looks, causing Mr. Weir to wonder that if punched him in the face, would it do more damage to Mr. Schweiber's face or his knuckles?

After Mr. Schweiber came in, Ms. Haverchuck came in, bawling her eyes out, with Mr. Fredricks trying in vain to calm her down. She had woken up this morning to find her son not home, and after hearing about where he was, she proceeded with wigging out. She already almost lost Bill twice, she didn't want to lose him again.

Finally, in came Mrs. Desario, who didn't' really seem sad at all that her son was missing; in fact, it seemed like she barely noticed. In her miondm it was jut one less mouth to feed, one less person to deal with, which she could spend taking care of Mr. Desario, considering that since the accident, he could barely walk, let alone take care of himself.

After this motley crew of the best kind all assembled, snacking on stale crackers and cubed cheese, the Weirs wondered what the _hell_ they were gonna say to all these people. None of them had anything in common with the other, so what could they say to level with them? Finally, every stopped nattering after Mr. Weir cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Now…folks, I'm sure you're all worried about your kids, we are too, but…well really… what I'm trying to day is... you know, what's happening is."

He went on like that for several minutes until he finally said, "Goddammit, does anybody have something to say?"

Mrs. Kelly suddenly found the need to go and say something to the group. "I think we should just leave 'em in New York for a while." She said this while slurring her words- she was already drunk, and it was noon. " How many people here are really pissed off at their kids right now?" No one raised their hands; the feeling of worry over their kids well-being currently weighed out their anger. Maybe Mrs. Kelly was so drunk she was seeing quadruple, because she said, "See? More than half. So I say, leave them there, and then when they come back from whatever they're doing, and then when they come back, we ground them for eternity. Those who agree say 'aye!'" No one said anything. Some parent was nice enough to lead Mrs. Kelly to her seat, and Mr. Andopolis came up to speak.

He said only one thing. "tomorrow, meet at the Andopolis residence. We will all go and track them down." No one dared argue with Mr. Andopolis' quiet authority. They all just decided, collectively, that they were going for a little road trip. Only MR. Weir dared to disagree. Uietly, to himself, so no one could here him, he said, "I went to New York with someone, you know what happened? They died!"

_**Ya like? If so, review. If not, still review. Alright, people of the interweb, hope you enjoyed. **_

_**Peace, love, and reading**_

_**-mrseddieveddder**_


	5. Daniel

**Hey! I'm back. Hope you like it! **

Chapter 5- Daniel

I hate disco. I really hate it.

If I have to listen to "Stayin' Alive" one more time, I don't think I'm gonna be stayin' alive, that's for sure.

Nick is an idiot for being all mushy-mushy lovey-dovey with Weir. Than she would likely still be with him. And I wouldn't have to deal with Sarah, and everything would just be better. Plus, Nick would probably chill out if he got laid more often.

Like I don't have enough to deal with without Disco Bitch. I'm in a foreign city (what exactly is foreign? Like China or just not where you live?) , with a ton of money, all my friends, St. Millie, and a bunch of equipment. Not to mention the fact that Kim's been on edge lately, who knows why. Maybe she's got here period or something.

But finally, after a long night of (not) sleeping, ahem, it was time to go to CBGB's. I gathered up all our crap, got in the van, and headed to Bowery. For the fifth time since we got here, I wondered why Ken was here, and for what felt like the eightieth time today, Ken and Amy looked at each other like those two guys in Love Story. Too damn cute.

We got there, Kim looks in awe. Her eyes practically lit up. I couldn't blame her. It felt exciting just to be here, just to feel like you were _in_ this city. It felt important, like you could be something. I know it sounds completely corny, but, I don't know, I feel like I could be more than that idiot from Chippewa. I could be Daniel, that awesome guitarist from Creation, who went on to be the next Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, etc. To quote that old blue-eyed guy from New Jersey, I wanted to be a part of it. (My parents are Italian. My dad used to play this song when he got home from work. When he could work)

Sarah snorted and said "I bet one of those kids will beat me up. I'll stay inside." Well, thank god for small favors.

But then Nick wanted Sarah to stay, but he couldn't convince her to say. I don't think Lindsay couldn't have looked more relieved. Kim didn't look too sad either. I just to relax, tune up, and get ready to play. I couldn't focus on anything else.

I honestly can't remember anything that happened before we got onstage. I can't tell you what I felt or what anybody said or did. It's all just giant blur of things. Up to the minute we got on stage, I was barely breathing.

Finally, we got on stage. There were a bunch of kids in the mosh pit, and I have to admit, a bottle making contact with skull seemed pretty likely if we didn't play some music. I saw stickers for a bunch of bands that had recently played there- Ramones, New York Dolls, X Ray Spex,- and all of a sudden I got pretty fucking intimidated. I mean, in Chippewa, I was the (what did Rosso call me? Fonx? Fonz? I don't watch much TV) here; just a guy in a garage band.

Pretty soon, Nick yelled "One, two, three, four!" and Harris goes into some bass riff, and play the opening chords of, you guessed it, "Sunshine of Your Love." I don't think most of the crowd knew the song, but they moshed along like there was no tomorrow. I saw Kim in the front, smiling and beaming. I hoped she didn't get buckled with a pair of Doc Martens.

Then, we really get into a groove, and we're really rocking. We still haven't written any original material, but we could do one bad-ass cover. Then, about five songs, I hear a shriek. Not just any shriek, a shriek I've heard too many times to count. God.

Anyway, when she tries to shriek again, some smelly skinhead guy tries to cover he mouth with his hand and tries to feel her up. Holy crap, this guy's tryin to hit on (in more way than one) my girlfriend. Oh, it's on.

"Oh shit," I mutter as I unplug my guitar and leap into the pit. Now, I don't wanna brag, but I kicked his ass HARD. Maybe a little _too_ hard. Because I as soon as I try to get back on stage, someone screams, "What'd the hell was that for!" and some one else screams "I'm calling the freaking cops on you, dude!"

Well, I'm no genius, but I know when I'm not wanted. The band gets the drift and immediately grabs their instruments, and gets the hell out of there. We exited through the back exit, to avoid of angry, sweaty New Yorkers.

So let's recap-

I just beat up some guy in the audience cause he tried to pick up Kim

-I'm not getting paid for that gig.

-I'm probably not welcome back

-It's only nine o'clock, one a Friday night, in June, in the city.

-The whole band must hate me pretty hard right now.

-And I just realized I can't find Kim. Or Lindsay or Amy, for that matter.

Just another day in the life of Daniel Anthony Desario.


End file.
